Of Rats and Fleas
by awesomelightbulb
Summary: Thalia lives in 1348 England, and a terrible disease is washing over the land. Disguised as a boy, can Thalia survive it and stay hidden and undetected?


I'm a guard for the beautiful town of Melton…I wish I could say that without being sarcastic. Melton is possibly the dirtiest town in England. The sewage, which is most carefully dumped on passer-by's heads, ends up in the street, meaning that you have to pick your way through other people's …waste.

Anyway, as I said before, I am one of the town guard, meaning I stand outside the town all day, letting people in or out. My name is Thalia, but people think my name is Edward, because I'm disguised as a boy at the moment, and I'm 16. I mean,_ I _didn't steal those apples, or poach that goat, or steal those pieces of jewelry from the next village. So I suppose my life is better than it used to be. At least I'm safe.

I try to keep out of everyone else's business, and I'm not making friends (apart from Luke, my fellow guard, who's got to be the nicest and bravest person I've ever met), because I'll probably move on soon, and I don't want to get attached to this place.

After I finish my shift, I always go down to the church square, and see if I can buy anyhthing for my 'sister who lives in Winchester'. I mean, I need an excuse to go shopping. But today, Connor, the guy who's helping build the cathedral in Winchester, is surrounded by a crowd of people, and all the market stalls are left empty. It would be so easy to steal something from Katie's lockbox; she makes lovely jewelry, or Silena's stall for clothes. But I figure that I'll see what the fuss is about first.

As I approach the group, Frederick Chase, one of the townspeople strides into the middle of the group, and exclaims loudly, "This is absolute rubbish! You don't know what you're talking about!" This just makes them mutter more loudly, until it becomes shouting. I don't want to get involved, I've got things to nick, so I just ask the nearest person what's going on.

"Oh, well, you see, Connor's just gotten back from Winchester, and says there's talk of a terrible disease sweeping through England. They're calling it the Black Plague. Sounds awful, doesn't it? Anyway, they say hundreds have died from it and that it's coming towards us!" the woman screamed, grasping at me. I quickly back away, I mean, what do I care about some fantasy disease?

Whilst everyone's backs are turned, I quickly pick the lock of Katie's lockbox, and take out some fine pieces of jewelry, and take some earrings and bracelets from her stand. Then I make my way over to Silena's stand and take some lovely dresses and skirts, and finally steal a quality sword, dagger, a silver bow and some iron arrows from Beckendorf's workshop. Then I hurry off home to hide them.

As I sew a piece of rough material onto the inside of a sack, and stuff the goods inside, I'm thinking about this plague, and wondering if it's real. Then I scold myself, because, no way is it real, and why am I worrying about it? I peek outside, just wondering how late it is, and I'm startled when I see that it's already dark outside. I go to bed.

Next day, this 'plague' is all anyone's talking about. Apparently, it started in Bristol, meaning we're very close to it, the nearest village being Frome.

At my sentry post, I notice an awful lot of rats creeping underneath the city gates, and it sort of worries me, it's so unnatural. Worst of all, these rats are twitching like they're demonically possessed, and they have so many fleas jumping off of them, they look like they're covered in a moving black carpet. I ask my only friend and fellow guard, Luke, about it, and he seems equally worried.

I run from my sentry post to go and tell the big boss, but think better of it, he'd probably ask who on earth I was, seeing as I didn't get interviewed for this job, I just broke into the barracks and put my name in for this shift. It's probably the end of my shift, so I run off to the marketplace to see if there is any news the plague. When I get there, it turns out that there's no new news, so instead I buy my dinner, one of Mad Agnes' homemade vegtable soups, and rush off home, still thinking about the demon rats.

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**So, do you like it? My first story, plz review! It'll make me happy! **


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